Transfer Ionization in Slow Multiply Charged Ion-Atom Collisions

Transfer ionization, or exothermic capture ionization, is found to be an important reaction mechanism is slow multiply charged ion-atom collisions: more electrons are released from the target in creating a recoil ion than are found to be captured by the projectile when viewed long after the collision. These collisions generally depend upon the internal potential energy of the collision system rather than on the projectile kinetic energy.